Apparatus for incinerating refuse



Aug. 31 1926. 1,598,390

w. PIERNAY APPARATUS FOR INCINERATING REFUSE Filed June 9, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 31, 1926.

W. PIERNAY v APPARATUS FOR INCINERATING REFUSE 4' Sheets-sheaf 2 Filed June 9, 1922 Aug. 31, 1926. A 1598,390

W. PIERNAY APPARATUS FOR- INCINERATING REFUSE L l LI!!!" 1 anoentoz Aug. 31 1926. 1,598,390

w. PIERNAY APPARATUS FOR INCINERA'IING REFUSE .Filed June 9, 1922 4 sheets-sheet],

Patented Aug'. 31, 1923.

UNITED STATES- 1,598,390 PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER PIERNAY, OE STETTIN, GERMANY, .ASSIGNOR T STETTINER CHAMOTTE- FABRIC AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT VORMALS DIDIER, OF STETTIN, GERMANY.

APPARATIIS FOR INCINERATING- REFUSE Application 'filed June 9,

My invention relates to a method of and means for incinerating refuse or other fuel, bya process in which heated air, or air mixed with steam is caused to pass through 5 highly heated slag or ashes and thence into the fuel to be consumed, so as to form combustible gases, which may be usefully burned or otherwise employed.

My invention aims to supply a comprehensive system of refuse incineration and power generation, so constructed and organized as to secure the highest possible eiliciency and to require the minimum attention. ll have provided means for charging the furnace and removing waste products de signed with regard to the character of the fuel and waste products handled, to enable the charging and discharging to be effected with the minimum inconvenience from dust and the least attention. I have so designed and constructed the furnace of my invention that the thermal effect of the gases generated is used-most efiiciently and a minimum amount of waste products is permitted to escape by way of the stack. Means are also provided whereby combustion ofthe charge may take place under forced draft without the escape of the products of combustion or waste products.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will beapparent from the following specification and will be more particularly pointed out in the claims, it being understood, however, that the particular embodi- I5 ments of my invention shown in this specification and in the drawings are shown by way of example only and that I do not intend to confine myself thereto, as many changes may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

In the drawings,I have shown:

In Fig. 1, a sectional View of my improved furnace;

In Fig. 2, a detail sectional view of the charging carriage; i

In Fig. 3, a plan view showing the charging carriage and furnace cover;

In Fig. 4, a detail view of the slag cutting knife; and

0 In Fig. 5, a detail view of the furnace sole and its associated mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that my improved furnace comprises a shaft having a lining which comprises an iron 5 mantle 1, which is preferably water-cooled,

1922. Serial No. 567,016.

erably above the ribs 2. Suitable water or other cooling fluid supply pipes 3 and 4: are provided and suitable provision for cooling the water is made. Such means being. wellknown are not here shown or described. The mantle is bricked into the furnace structure, care being-taken to permit its free expansion and contraction and the furnace head 5 is therefore arranged so that it will not bear upon the top of the mantle.

Located adjacent the lower end of the mantle is a plurality of air inlets 6,-which may be of the form shown and described in my United States Patent Number 1,34t6,055, said air inlets being supplied by an air duct 7, which is in turn supplied by suitable air pipes 8. At the'bottom of the furnace the slag cutter 9 is located. I have found that much better results'are secured by extending the mantle 1 as far down as the slag cutter instead of stopping it at a hi her level as was thought necessary heretoore, the freedom of movement of theslag and consequently of the entire chargeof the furnace being greatly enhanced. The slag cutter.9 is adapted to be intermittently operated when it is desired to draw off slag and ashes, as will be described hereafter, the slag cutter being operated by a compressed air or hydraulic cylinder 10, or other suitable source of power. At the bottom of the furnace, below the slag cutter 9, is located an ash-pit 11 closed by the removable sole" 12.

The sole 12 is preferably made of firebrick, or similar refractory material and is mounted upon" carriage 13 adapted to ride on rails 14. Rails 14 are pivotally mounted, as at 15, to enable the sole to be moved upwardly to close the ash-pit.

Carriage 13 is moved along rails 14 by 1 means of the pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder 16, or other suitable source of power and rails 14 are moved upwardly and ,down wardly by a suitable source of power, such as the hydraulic or pneu cvlinder l';(,, 1

'. scattering of the fine ashes falling from the furnace when the dumping mechanism is operated.

At the upper end of the furnace, I provide means for charging the furnace and for maintaining the furnace closed at all times. These means include a carriage 22, carrying a cover of firebrick or other suitable material adapted to run on the rails 23 mounted above the furnace. Also operating on rails 23 is the charging carriage 24.- which may be adapted to carry cans of refuse and to dump the cans into the furnace. The particular construction of the carriage and dumping mechanism is not described here as they form the subject-matter of a co-pending application, filed June 9th, 1922, Serial No.

\Vhen furnaces of the construction described herein are operated in batteries, it is sometimes convenient to so locate the furnaces and their cover and charging carriages that one charging carriage may serve two furnaces. Charging carriage 24: is preferably made of sheet steel and is provided with doors 25, preferably self-closing, to prevent the escape of gases or the products of combustion during the charging operation. Both -charging carriage 24 and cover carriage 22 are provided with recesses within which flexible gaskets 26 are fixed, to assist in sealing the top of the furnace and are so arranged with respect to the brickwork of the top of the furnace as to seal the top of. the furnace as nearly as possible.

Rails 23 are preferably supported over a water bath 27, which acts to catch escaping dust and to assist in cooling the upper part of the furnace and the mechanism mounted thereon.

The foregoing describes the combustion and gas generating portion of the furnace; I shall now describe the power generating portions combined therewith.

The gases, after generation in the mantle 1, pass out through a path comprising a lurality of baffle walls, 28 to 32, inclusive. aid walls are so arranged as to provide vertical flueshaving ash-pits 33, 34 and 35 at their lower extremities.

long path for the gases, to permit their combustion and to provide means for readily removing the suspended solid matter. The ash-pits in which the flue dust collects are therefore connected to the cars 36, or other suitable means are provided for their evacuation. In practice, it is desirable to maintain a quantity of ashes in the ash-pits, as they are very highly heated and thus contribute to the efficiency of the apparatus as a whole.

Located remote from the gas generating end of the furnace is the boiler 37 which may be of any suitable type and may be provided with a superheater 38 if desired.

In the boiler chamber, I also locate the primary air heater 39 in which the air atterwards used in the combustion of the fuel is given its first heating. The air, after having been heated in heater 39 is led to the secondary heater 40 located in bafile wall 28 "and thence to air service pipes 8. I have found it desirable, on account of the very high temperature of battle wall 28, to give the air a preliminary heating, to avoid too great an expansion in heater. 40, but if suitable provision for such expansion can be made, the preliminary heating may be dispensed with.

It .will be noted that in my improved furnace there is no grate and that the furnace is charged and discharged by measured quantities. I am thus enabled to keep the level of the ashes or slag substantially constant and to properly regulate this level with relation to the air supply, to secure maximum efliciency. v

In my improved furnace, I produce a Hi l burning of the refuse in one zone, air being supplied thereto through a zone of slag or ashes, and a destructive distillation of the fuel and a drying of wet organic matter in upper zones. The process is therefore continuous. I

In the operation of the furnace of my invention, a charge is fed to the furnace by first moving the cover carriage from the top of the furnace, preferably by pushing it with the charging carriage so as to prevent any escape of the products of combustion during the change from one carriage to another, and by dumping the charge in any suitable manner, such as that described in my said co-pending application. During the dumping of the charge, the

doors 25 are opened, but at other times,-'

' ashes, the followin and the slag cutting knife 9 is advanced into the position of Fig. 1. The sole 12, which has been in the position of Fig. 1 during the operation of the furnace, is thendropped by moving rails 14 about pivot 15 and the sole is Withdrawn from under the ash-pit, thus dropping the ashes into car 18. furnace being dumped, the sole 12 is again returned to position and the cutting knife then Withdrawn, thus permitting an accumulation of slag and ashes to drop in the sole and lowering the level of the charge in the furnace by the depth of the ash-pit 11.

It will be understood that suitable control mechanism 41- and 42 is provided for the air and for the operation of the slag knife and sole mechanism, but as such mechanism may take Widely varying forms, it will not be described in detail.-

In the actual operation of my furnace, operating on garbage, city refuse 'andcoal g approximate temperatures have been noted:

, I Deg. F. Ash-pit v 350 Slag zone 900 Combustion 'zone 2, 500 Top of mantle 2, 400 First baffle wall 2, 300 Boiler chamber 1, O Stack It will be noted from the foregoing temperatures that the temperature of the ashpit is such as to permit of convenient dumping of the furnace and that no large amount of heat is lost in the waste material. The temperature of the slag zone is sufficiently elevated to impart to the air distributed therethrough a considerable amount of heat or to prevent preheated air from being unduly cooled. The temperature of the combustion zone is ample to cause destructive distillation of the material. leaves the furnace, it is burning at a high temperature, 2400 degrees E, which temperature is substantially maintained when it strikes the first baflle wall in which the second stage of the air preheater is located.

It will also be noted that complete combustion of the gases takes place, delivering the maximum possible heat to the boiler and the minimum to the stack.

- combustion chamber.'.

2. In a furnace adapted to operate upon The As the gas.

refuse or similar fuel, a combustion and gas generatlng chamber, having no grate and closed walls and operating under forced' comprising a plurality of baflle walls and a 1 steam generating chamber located remote from the combustion and gas generating chamber, primary air preheating means in said steam generating chamber and second-' ary air preheating means insaid gas combustion chamber.

- 4. In a. furnace adapted to operate upon refuse or similar fuel, a combustion and gas generating chamber, having a closed top and walls and having no grate and adapted to operate under forced draft, within which a portion of the fuel is adapted to be burned and a portion destructively distilled into combustible gases, a gas combustion chamber of a length sufficient to enable the said gases to be burned and a steam boiler located at the end of said gas combustion chamber, primary air preheating means in said steam generating chamber and secondary air preheating means in said gas combustion chamber.

5. In a furnace adapted to operate upon refuse or similar fuel, a combustion and gas generating chamber a gas combustion chamber comprising a plurality of walls providing an. elongated path for said gas, a steam generating chamber located at the end of the. gas combustion chamber, a primal air heater located in the steam generating c amher and a secondary air heater located in one of said baflie walls. I

6. In a furnaceadapted to operate upon refuse orfs'imilar fuel, a combustion and gas generating chamber, a gas combustion chamber, a primary air heater located remotev from the combustion and gas generating chamber and a secondary air heater located in the gas combustion chamber and in proximity to the combustion and gas generating, chamber.

7. In a furnace adapted to produce gas from refuse or the like, a gas generating chamber, a gas combustion chamber comprising a plurality of staggered baflle walls arranged to provide an elongated path for the combustible gases,- an air preheater in one of said baflie'walls and leading to the lower portion of the gas generating chamber, the floor of the combustion chamber between alternate walls being arranged to form ash-pits to collect suspended solids in the gas and means for evacuating the ashpits..

8. In a furnace adapted to produce gas from refuse or the like, a gas generating chamber, a gas combustion chamber comprising a plurality of bafiie Walls having openings alternately at the top and bottom thereof, the floor of the furnace'betweenbafile walls having openings at the top being inclined downwardly to form ash-pits to receive suspended solid matter from the gases and means for evacuating the ash-pits, means in said baflie Walls for preheating air and means for admitting said preheated air to the lower portion of the gas generating chamber whereby said air is distributed throughout the fuel mass in the gas generating chamber.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this sixth day of May, 1922. v

- WALTER PIERNAY. 

